Online and distributed optimization framework for wireless analytics

ABSTRACT

A method, computer program product, and computer system directed to an online and distributed optimization framework for wireless analytics. A radio network controller determines a ranking for each of a plurality of received objects using a plurality of similarity graphs. The radio network controller extracts a common structure by collaborative filtering data associated with a plurality of user devices and the plurality of received objects. The common structure is analyzed to infer usage patterns within a time slot. The radio network controller stores a subset of the ranked objects of the plurality of received objects in response to the analysis.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The subject application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication with Ser. No. 13/353,776, the entire content of which isherein incorporated by reference, which claims priority to Indian PatentApplication No. 3893/DEL/2011, entitled “Online and DistributedOptimization Framework for Wireless Analytics”, filed on Dec. 31, 2011,incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to cellular networks, and more particularly, toonline and distributed optimization frameworks for wireless analytics.

BACKGROUND

Cellular networks may span large geographical regions with multiple basestations scattered providing coverage for the networks. Substantialamounts of data may be transferred from one node to another, where thenodes may include mobile and cellular devices and computing systems thatmay provide resources, such as web pages, audio files, video files, andother types of data. Due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile and cellulardevices, 3G and 4G cellular networks may suffer from increasing demandson the limited spectrum bandwidth. For example, high levels of videodownloads and increased generalized Value Added Services (VAS) maynegatively affect the cellular network. The resulting networkcongestions and possible bandwidth inadequacy may contribute to a pooruser experience due to the unavailability of requested resources.Telecommunication companies may seek to optimize the usage of thelimited available bandwidth to maximize revenue and enhance theexperience of the user.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one implementation, a method for an online and distributedoptimization framework for wireless analytics, performed by one or morecomputing devices, includes a radio network controller determining aranking for each of a plurality of received objects using a plurality ofsimilarity graphs. The radio network controller extracts a commonstructure by collaborative filtering data associated with a plurality ofuser devices and the plurality of received objects. The common structureis analyzed to infer usage patterns within a time slot. A subset of theranked objects of the plurality of received objects is stored inresponse to the analysis.

One or more of the following features may be included. The plurality ofsimilarity graphs may include an object-object similarity graph, a basestation-base station similarity graph, and a user-user similarity graph.The ranking for each of the plurality of received objects may be basedupon, at least in part, a demand at each of a plurality of basestations, a weighting factor for premium and non-premium demands, and abandwidth associated with each object of the plurality of receivedobjects. Storing a subset of ranked objects of the plurality of receivedobjects may include cooperatively storing the subset of higher rankedobjects across a plurality of base stations. The method may includegenerating demand predictions across time slots for a plurality of basestations. The method may include identifying which of the plurality ofuser devices and the plurality of received objects occur together. Themethod may include generating an online update of the ranking for eachof the plurality of received objects and the plurality of users. In someembodiments, the collaborative filtering may be based upon, at least inpart, co-clustering.

In another implementation, a computer program product resides on acomputer readable medium that has a plurality of instructions stored onit. When executed by a processor, the instructions cause the processorto perform operations including determining a ranking for each of aplurality of received objects using a plurality of similarity graphs;extracting a common structure by collaborative filtering data associatedwith a plurality of user devices and the plurality of received objects;analyzing the common structure to infer usage patterns within a timeslot; and storing a subset of the ranked objects of the plurality ofreceived objects in response to the analysis.

One or more of the following features may be included. The plurality ofsimilarity graphs may include an object-object similarity graph, a basestation-base station similarity graph, and a user-user similarity graph.The ranking for each of the plurality of received objects may be basedupon, at least in part, a demand at each of a plurality of basestations, a weighting factor for premium and non-premium demands, and abandwidth associated with each object of the plurality of receivedobjects. Storing a subset of the ranked objects of the plurality ofreceived objects may further comprise cooperatively storing the subsetof higher ranked objects across a plurality of base stations. Thecomputer program product may include generating demand predictionsacross time slots for a plurality of base stations. The computer programproduct may include identifying which of the plurality of user devicesand the plurality of received objects occur together. The computerprogram product may include generating an online update of the rankingfor each of the plurality of received objects and the plurality ofusers. In some embodiments, the collaborative filtering may be basedupon, at least in part, co-clustering.

In another implementation, a computing system includes a processor andmemory configured to perform operations including determining a rankingfor each of a plurality of received objects using a plurality ofsimilarity graphs; extracting a common structure by collaborativefiltering data associated with a plurality of user devices and theplurality of received objects; analyzing the common structure to inferusage patterns within a time slot; and storing a subset of the rankedobjects of the plurality of received objects in response to theanalysis.

One or more of the following features may be included. The plurality ofsimilarity graphs may include an object-object similarity graph, a basestation-base station similarity graph, and a user-user similarity graph.The ranking for each of the plurality of received objects may be basedupon, at least in part, a demand at each of a plurality of basestations, a weighting factor for premium and non-premium demands, and abandwidth associated with each object of the plurality of receivedobjects. Storing a subset of the ranked objects of the plurality ofreceived objects may further comprise cooperatively storing the subsetof higher ranked objects across a plurality of base stations. Thecomputing system may include generating demand predictions across timeslots for a plurality of base stations. The computing system may includeidentifying which of the plurality of user devices and the plurality ofreceived objects occur together. The computing system may includegenerating an online update of the ranking for each of the plurality ofreceived objects and the plurality of users. In some embodiments, thecollaborative filtering may be based upon, at least in part,co-clustering.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features andadvantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, andthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an optimization process coupled to amobile communication system;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of an optimization process couple to amobile communication system;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the optimization process of FIG. 1.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present disclosuremay be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product.Accordingly, the present disclosure may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program producton a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program codeembodied in the medium.

Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may beutilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, forexample but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device,or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) ofthe computer-readable medium would include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, ahard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), anoptical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, a transmission media such as those supportingthe Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that thecomputer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper oranother suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as theprogram can be electronically captured, via, for instance, opticalscanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, orotherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then storedin a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usableor computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with thecomputer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband oras part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may betransmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited tothe Internet, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentdisclosure may be written in an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer programcode for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may also bewritten in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the“C” programming language or similar programming languages. The programcode may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

The present disclosure is described below with reference to flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) andcomputer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. Itwill be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/orblock diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor ofthe computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The system described in this disclosure may impact end users andtelecommunication service providers. A user may desire that a requestedresource be delivered without much delay. In order to enhance userexperience, the system may seek to provide a quick response time forrequested resources through the efficient management of availableresources, such as video files, audio files, SMS messages, and othertypes of data. The telecommunication service provider may want tomaximize revenue by using targeted advertisements. The system mayprovide an efficient utilization of network bandwidth while minimizingnetwork impact.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown optimization process 10 that mayreside on and may be executed by radio network controller 20. The radionetwork controller 20 may be connected to one or more base stations 30,32, 34, 36 which may service one or more geographical regions. Basestations 30, 32, 34, 36 may provide service within their respectiveservice areas 60, 62, 64, 68. Base stations 30, 32, 34, 36 may provideservice to multiple user equipment devices 40, 42, 46, 48, 50 if theyare within the service areas 60, 62, 64, 68. Content providers and userequipment devices may be collectively known as nodes. Large amounts ofdata may be transferred between and among nodes over the cellularnetworks associated with the radio network controller 20.

Examples of radio network controller 20 may include but are not limitedto a single server computer, a series of server computers, a singlepersonal computer, a series of personal computers, a mini computer, amainframe computer, or a computing cloud. The various components ofradio network controller 20 may execute one or more operating systems,examples of which may include but are not limited to: Microsoft WindowsServer™; Novell Netware™; Redhat Linux™, Unix, or a custom operatingsystem, for example.

As will be discussed below in greater detail, optimization process 10may determine a ranking for each of a plurality of received objectsusing a plurality of similarity graphs. Optimization process 10 mayextracts a common structure by collaborative filtering data associatedwith a plurality of user equipment and the plurality of receivedobjects. The common structure may be analyzed to infer usage patternswithin a time slot. A subset of the ranked objects of the plurality ofreceived objects may be stored in response to the analysis.

The instruction sets and subroutines of optimization process 10, whichmay be stored on storage device 140 of radio network controller 20, maybe executed by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memoryarchitectures (not shown) included within radio network controller 20.

Optimization process 10 may be accessed via one or more clientapplications 70, 72, 74, 76 of base stations 30, 32, 34, 36. Examples ofclient applications may include but are not limited to a standard webbrowser, a customized web browser, or a custom application. Theinstruction sets and subroutines of client applications, which may bestored on storage devices 80, 82, 84, 86 coupled to client base stations30, 32, 34, 36, respectively, may be executed by one or more processors(not shown) and one or more memory architectures (not shown)incorporated into base stations 30, 32, 34, 36.

Examples of user equipment devices 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 may include,but are not limited to, personal computer 38, laptop computer 44, smartphone 46, 50, notebook computer (not shown), a server (not shown), adata-enabled, cellular telephone 42, 48, a dedicated network device (notshown), and a tablet computing device 40.

One or more client applications may be configured to effectuate some orall of the functionality of optimization process 10. Accordingly,optimization process 10 may be a purely server-side application, apurely client-side application, or a hybrid server-side/client-sideapplication that is cooperatively executed by one or more clientapplications and optimization process 10.

Users 88, 89, 90, 92, 94, 96, 98 may access radio network controller 20and optimization process 10 directly through a cellular network orthrough a secondary network. Further, radio network controller 20 may beconnected to the cellular network through a secondary network.

The various user equipment devices may be directly or indirectly coupledto a cellular network connecting them to the radio network controller20.

As is known in the art, Bluetooth is a telecommunications industryspecification that allows e.g., mobile phones, computers, and smartphones to be interconnected using a short-range wireless connection.

User equipment devices 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 may each execute anoperating system, examples of which may include but are not limited toApple iOS™, Microsoft Windows™, Android™, Redhat Linux™, or a customoperating systems.

As discussed above and referring to FIGS. 2-3, optimization process 10may include a radio network controller 20 determining a ranking for eachof a plurality of received objects using a plurality of similaritygraphs. The radio network controller 20 may extract a common datastructure by collaborative filtering data associated with a plurality ofusers and the plurality of received objects, described in more detailbelow. The common structure may be analyzed to infer usage patternswithin a time slot. A subset of the ranked objects of the plurality ofreceived objects is stored in response to the analysis.

Referring now to FIG. 2, in more detail, radio network controller 20 mayinclude cache 204 and execute optimization process 10. Radio networkcontroller 20 may be in communication with central repository 202. Radionetwork controller 20 may be in communication with base stations 30, 32,34. Base stations 30, 32, 34 may include local cache 210, 212, 214,respectively. In the example embodiment, base station 30 may be incommunication over a cellular network with user equipment device 42.Although FIG. 2 only depicts user equipment device 42, base stations 30,32; 34 may be in communication with multiple user equipment devices(e.g., tablet 40, cell phone 42, laptop 44, smart phone 46). Radionetwork controller 20 may include similarity graphs 208 that may begenerated by radio network controller 20 or received from a differentsource. A similarity graph 208 may include nodes and edges to indicateobjects and relationships. By comparing similarity graphs of users anduser equipment, base stations, and requested objects, trends in behaviorby the users may be inferred and/or identified. Similarity graphs 208may be used to determine rankings of objects and to infer behaviortrends of users, as described in further detail below. Behavior trendsof users may be identified and/or inferred by comparing users and userdevice, requested objects (e.g., news article or music file), and basestations to identify, for instance, similar users who may access basestations at a particular time to request similar objects.

Base station 30 may use the local cache 210 to satisfy a request 220 foran object received from user equipment (e.g., cell phone 42). In someembodiments, the object may be any data structure or file requested bythe user through the user equipment and then received by the userequipment, such as music files, news articles, or other similar types ofinformation. If the requested resource or object is not available inlocal cache 210, the request 220 may be forwarded to the radio networkcontroller 20, which may fetch the requested resource or object 230 frombase station 32, cache 204, or a central repository 202.

Central repository 202 may include but is not limited to: a hard diskdrive; a flash drive, a tape drive; an optical drive; a RAID array; arandom access memory (RAM); and a read-only memory (ROM).

Optimization process 10 may determine 100 a ranking for each of thereceived objects using one or more similarity graphs 208. Optimizationprocess 10 may generate one or more similarity graphs 208 based onexisting or received data (e.g., historic data associated with the user,user equipment, base stations, and/or requested objects which may bestored in any one of the storage devices described herein). Similaritygraphs 208 may include an object-object similarity graph 110, a basestation-base station similarity graph 114, and a user-user similaritygraph 112. The object-object similarity graph 110 may representrequested objects from one or more base stations. A base station-basestation similarity graph 114 may represent the one or more base stationsand the type of information requested and users accessing the basestations. The user-user similarity graph 112 may represent users anduser equipment and may indicate what type of information or objects theusers request as well as which base-stations the users access. Thesimilarity graphs 208 may be used to determine 100 a ranking forreceived objects. The similarity graphs 208 may be used to gain usefulinsights reflecting user behavior and provide optimization and identifyopportunities. Insights may include, for example, identifying a type ofuser equipment that may consistently access a certain base station,regardless of the objects requested, or if a user accesses a certainbase station at a certain time, then they are likely to request acertain object, regardless of the type of user equipment that may beinvolved. Opportunities may include areas for network optimization forpre-caching of objects and targeted advertisements based on userbehavior.

In an example, optimization process 10 may generate an object-objectsimilarity graph 112. Each node of the object-object similarity graph112 may correspond to a request for an object or resource. An edgebetween any pair of nodes may represent the similarity between therepresented objects. Similarity may be determined by using, for example,the dot product of the demand vectors of the two objects (where eachcomponent represents a demand for the object at base station).Similarity may be determined using the number of customers requestingthe two objects during the same time slot. Optimization process 10 maygenerate and/or obtain a user-user similarity graph 110 and basestation-base station similarity graph 114 using similar methods andtechniques. Similarity graphs 208 may be stored by the radio networkcontroller 20. In some embodiments, similarity graphs 208 may be storedon the radio network controller 20 or the central repository 202.

Optimization process 10 may determine 100 a ranking for each of thereceived objects which may be based upon, at least in part, a demand ateach of the base stations, a weighting factor for premium andnon-premium demands (e.g., classification of demands where the premiumdemands may take precedent over non-premium demands), and a bandwidthassociated with each object of the plurality of received objects. Insome embodiments, users may be designated as premium and non-premium(e.g., users may be designated premium and non-premium based ondifferent criteria, such as account type with the telecommunicationprovider, type of device accessing the base, and other factors).

In one embodiment, the ranking of received objects may be calculatedusing the following mathematical formulation:

${\min\limits_{f \in \mathcal{R}^{n}}{\frac{1}{2}f^{T}{Lf}}} + {M{\sum\limits_{i,j}{\eta_{ij}{\sum\limits_{l}{\left( {{\zeta\frac{D_{il}}{\sum\limits_{k}D_{kl}}} + \frac{D_{il}^{\prime}}{\sum\limits_{k}D_{kl}^{\prime}}} \right)W_{i}C_{il}}}}}} - {\left( {{\zeta\frac{D_{jl}}{\sum\limits_{k}D_{kl}}} + \frac{D_{jl}^{\prime}}{\sum\limits_{k}D_{kl}^{\prime}}} \right)W_{j}C_{jl}}$

subject tof _(i) −f _(j)≧1−n _(ij),  (1)n _(ij)≧0∀i,j  (2)

where each object I_(i) has a bandwidth W_(i); C_(il) units of cost isassociated with unit transfer of item I_(i) from the radio networkcontroller (RNC) to base station B_(l); there is a premium demandD′_(il) and a non-premium demand D_(il) for I_(i) at base station B_(l);ζ>1 represents the weight assigned to the premium demand; n_(ij)represents the corresponding Lagrangian coefficient; L represents theLaplacian matrix of the graph; and M is the coefficient of theregulizer, which is introduced to avoid overfitting.

Optimization process 10 may extract 102 a common structure bycollaborative filtering data associated with users and received objects.In some embodiments, collaborative filtering may be the process offiltering for information or patterns using techniques involvingcollaboration among multiple agents, viewpoints, data sources, or thelike. In some embodiments, collaborative filtering may be a method ofmaking automatic predictions about the interests of one or more users bycollecting preferences or data associated with the users. In someembodiments, collaborative filtering may be based upon, at least inpart, co-clustering. In some embodiments, co-clustering may be a datamining technique that allows simultaneous clustering of rows and columnsof a matrix.

The data associated with the users and user devices may be collected bybase stations 30, 32, 34, 36 and transmitted to radio network controller20. In some embodiments, the data associated with the users and userdevices may include type of user device, demographic information aboutthe user, the duration of a user's connection, the type of connectionused by the user device, and other similar information. The dataassociated with the received objects may be collected by base stations30, 32, 34, 36 and transmitted to radio network controller 20. The datamay include information regarding the source of the object, the type ofobject, how often the object is updated, and other similar information.

Optimization process 10 may choose a subset of the ranked objects andcollaborative filter the ranked objects with the data associated with asubset of users. In some embodiments, the optimization process 10 maychoose a subset of ranked objects based on criteria specified by anadministrator or by criteria specified by the telecommunicationprovider. In some embodiments, optimization process 10 may use all theranked objects and collaborative filter the ranked objects with the dataassociated with the users. Results of the collaborative filtering may bestored to a common data structure. Optimization process 10 may obtainand/or generate similarity graphs 208 corresponding to objects, basestations, and users for each time slot of a base station. In someembodiments, the telecommunication provider may identify time slots ofparticular increments of time (e.g., hour long slots that begin on thehour, so that there are 24 times in a day). In some embodiments, forgraphs of the same type (e.g., objects), clustering may be performedusing techniques, such as Link Matrix Factorization, to extract 102and/or generate a common structure.

Optimization process 10 may analyze 104 the common data structure toinfer usage patterns within a time slot of one or more base stations.Optimization process 10 may analyze 104 the common data structure bygenerating pair predictions of objects and users based upon, at least inpart, the collaborative filtering. Predictions may be generated byoptimization process 10 using the collaborative filters, such as userswho may request similar objects. By utilizing collaborative filtering ofobjects and users, an integrated view of user behavior may be generatedfor different base stations, which may produce personalized segmentationfor different time slots of the base stations. Optimization process 10may identify which of the users and ranked objects occur together. Byidentifying and/or inferring customer behavior for a time slot of one ormore base stations, optimization process 10 may facilitate personalizedtargeting of users. For example, telecommunication providers may use theidentified and/or inferred customer behavior for a time slot of one ormore base stations to create targeted incentive plans and facilitateopportunities by storing relevant or related objects in local cache ofbase station. Targeted incentive plans may include using data identifiedand/or inferred about customer behavior to identify opportunitiestailored to specific individuals. For example, if a group of usersaccesses news websites in the morning between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM, thenthe telecommunication provider may provide news providers the ability toadvertise during that time to the group of identified users.

In some embodiments, identifying and/or inferring user behavior for atime slot of one or more base stations may contribute to buildingeffective systems to identify and recommend objects to users.Collaborative filtering may also identify which base stations serve thesame type of demands, and may aid in understanding what types of objectshould be introduced or focused upon in the future. For example,collaborative filtering may aid in the generation of a pre-fetchschedule for high priority objects based upon the analysis of userbehavior identified by collaborative filtering. In some embodiments,optimization process 10 may generate demand predictions across timeslots for one or more base stations. In some embodiments, optimizationprocess 10 may generate an online update of the ranking for the receivedobjects and the users, which may be based upon collaborative filtering.

In some embodiments, identifying and/or inferring user behavior for atime slot of one or more base stations may facilitate efficientspatio-temporal mining. Spatio-temporal data may include data related tospace and time of users and objects. In some embodiments, the system maybe used to mine data across time slots and find patterns that emergetherein. In some embodiments, the spatio-temporal mining analysis may beconducted or executed during off-peak hours, which may reduce anynegative effects to the network resulting from the analysis.Spatio-temporal mining may provide the telecommunication provider withan insight into the behavior of users across time slots, which mayprovide a better opportunity for targeted segmentation. Examples ofspatio-temporal data may include data received from a user equipment fora user which may be received from multiple base stations as a result ofthe user moving from one geographic location to another, (e.g., the userequipment communicating with base station 30 and then communicating withbase station 32 as the user moves from service area 60 to service area62. Spatio-temporal data mining by optimization process 10 may revealfurther user behaviors that may be useful to telecommunication providersto provide additional services to users or further optimize the network.

Optimization process 10 may store 106 a subset of the ranked objects inresponse to the analysis of the common data structure. In someembodiments, optimization process 10 may store 106 the ranked objects inlocal cache 210 of base station 30. In some embodiments, optimizationprocess 10 may store 106 the ranked objects in cache 204 of radionetwork controller 20. In some embodiments, optimization process 10 maystore 106 the ranked objects in central repository 202 associated withradio network controller 20. In some embodiments, optimization process10 may cooperatively store 106 the ranked objects in local cache 210 ofbase stations 30, 32, 34, and 36. In some embodiments, online rankaggregation at the edge results in improvement of the hit rate of thecache and/or may determine the top ranked items.

Optimization process 10 may store 106 the subset of ranked objects toimprove the caching with regards to different object types, wherekeeping the most relevant data or highly ranked objects in cache mayminimize response time and communication overhead in transmitting therequested object to the user which may enhance experience of the user.

In some embodiments, demand prediction for next time slots may be usedto pre-fetch objects in the cache as well as evict objects from thecache. This may improve the hit-rate of the cache of the base stations.

In some embodiments, the edge-core combination may incorporate thepositive aspects of both the edge and the core. The edge may offer realonline and distributed processing. The core may leverage the largecomputational resources and storage to capture long term behavior.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

Having thus described the disclosure of the present application indetail and by reference to embodiments thereof, it will be apparent thatmodifications and variations are possible without departing from thescope of the disclosure defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:determining, by a radio network controller, a ranking for each of aplurality of received objects using a plurality of similarity graphs fora plurality of base stations, wherein the plurality of received objectsinclude data files received from at least one of the plurality of basestations, the ranking calculated by${\min\limits_{f \in \mathcal{R}^{n}}{\frac{1}{2}f^{T}{Lf}}} + {M{\sum\limits_{i,j}{\eta_{ij}{\sum\limits_{l}{\left( {{\zeta\frac{D_{il}}{\sum\limits_{k}D_{kl}}} + \frac{D_{il}^{\prime}}{\sum\limits_{k}D_{kl}^{\prime}}} \right)W_{i}C_{il}}}}}} - {\left( {{\zeta\frac{D_{jl}}{\sum\limits_{k}D_{kl}}} + \frac{D_{jl}^{\prime}}{\sum\limits_{k}D_{kl}^{\prime}}} \right)W_{j}C_{jl}}$subject tof _(i) −f _(j)≧1−n _(ij),  (1)n _(ij)≧0∀i,j  (2) where each object I_(i) has a bandwidth W_(i); C_(il)units of cost is associated with unit transfer of item I_(i) from theradio network controller to base station B_(l); there is a premiumdemand D′_(il) and a non-premium demand D_(il) for I_(i) at base stationB_(l); ζ>1 represents a weight assigned to the premium demand; n_(il)represents a corresponding Lagrangian coefficient; L represents aLaplacian matrix of a graph; and M is a coefficient of a regulizer,which is introduced to avoid overfitting; extracting, by the radionetwork controller, a common structure between a plurality of userdevices and the plurality of received objects by collaborative filteringdata associated with a plurality of user devices and the plurality ofreceived objects; analyzing, by the radio network controller, the commonstructure to infer usage patterns within a time slot; generating, by theradio network controller, demand predictions for at least a subset ofobjects of the plurality of received objects across time slots for theplurality of base stations; storing, by the radio network controller,the subset of the ranked objects of the plurality of received objects inresponse to the analysis and the demand predictions, includingpre-fetching the subset of the ranked objects of the plurality ofreceived objects into a local cache of a base station of the pluralityof base stations based upon, at least in part, the demand predictionsfor the time slot of the base station to reduce response time to accessthe plurality of received objects; and evicting one or more pre-fetchedranked objects of the subset of ranked objects from the local cache of abase station of the plurality of base stations according to the demandpredictions for the time slot of the base station.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the plurality ofsimilarity graphs include an object-object similarity graph, a basestation-base station similarity graph, and a user-user similarity graph.3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the ranking foreach of the plurality of received objects is based upon, at least inpart, a demand at each of the plurality of base stations, a weightingfactor for premium and non-premium demands, and a bandwidth associatedwith each object of the plurality of received objects.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein storing a subset of theranked objects of the plurality of received objects further comprisescooperatively storing the subset of ranked objects across the pluralityof base stations.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 furthercomprising identifying which of the plurality of user devices and theplurality of received objects appear together in the plurality ofsimilarity graphs.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 furthercomprising generating an online update of the ranking for each of theplurality of received objects and the plurality of users.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the collaborativefiltering is based upon, at least in part, co-clustering.